2008 Woodie Awards
Facilities to overhaul restrooms
Tirza Austin
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
For students who use wheelchairs, finding the appropriate bathroom can be a trying task - until now.
Jack Baker, Director of Operations and Maintenance, said the department is now focusing on repairing bathrooms on the campus that are too narrow for students and faculty members in wheelchairs, a project that could take a couple of years. Those members of the university community say the changes are a much-needed improvement.
The bathrooms have been neglected for years because they are "one of the things that nobody sees," Baker said. Changes to the outdated bathrooms, which include automatic sensors in the stalls, installing new toilets, re-painting and widening some stalls, are already underway in the Chemistry Building and in Symons Hall, he added.
The inspiration for the changes came from an experience Baker, who also teaches in the chemistry department, had with a student in a wheelchair. The student, who had trouble getting his wheelchair in the bathroom stall, was forced to travel to the other end of the building to use the bathroom, a major inconvenience, Baker recalled.
Though he always knew the campus's bathrooms were outdated, Baker said he had no idea of the impact they played on academic life until that moment. Though he can't remember the student's name, he said the department's decision to renovate some of the bathrooms in the chemistry building was directly influenced by that one student.
"It was a significant moment," Baker said. "He needs to know that he made an impact on the decision."
The updates to the bathrooms are a major improvement, said history professor Gay Gullickson, chairwoman of the President's Commission on Disability Issues at the university.
"The stalls were very tiny," Gullickson said. "You could get through the door, but you couldn't latch it."
In fact, until the university began renovating the stalls, she said it was awkward and inconvenient to use the restroom because she had to ask someone to close the door.
Jack Baker, Director of Operations and Maintenance, said the department is now focusing on repairing bathrooms on the campus that are too narrow for students and faculty members in wheelchairs, a project that could take a couple of years. Those members of the university community say the changes are a much-needed improvement.
The bathrooms have been neglected for years because they are "one of the things that nobody sees," Baker said. Changes to the outdated bathrooms, which include automatic sensors in the stalls, installing new toilets, re-painting and widening some stalls, are already underway in the Chemistry Building and in Symons Hall, he added.
The inspiration for the changes came from an experience Baker, who also teaches in the chemistry department, had with a student in a wheelchair. The student, who had trouble getting his wheelchair in the bathroom stall, was forced to travel to the other end of the building to use the bathroom, a major inconvenience, Baker recalled.
Though he always knew the campus's bathrooms were outdated, Baker said he had no idea of the impact they played on academic life until that moment. Though he can't remember the student's name, he said the department's decision to renovate some of the bathrooms in the chemistry building was directly influenced by that one student.
"It was a significant moment," Baker said. "He needs to know that he made an impact on the decision."
The updates to the bathrooms are a major improvement, said history professor Gay Gullickson, chairwoman of the President's Commission on Disability Issues at the university.
"The stalls were very tiny," Gullickson said. "You could get through the door, but you couldn't latch it."
In fact, until the university began renovating the stalls, she said it was awkward and inconvenient to use the restroom because she had to ask someone to close the door.
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Larry Craig
posted 4/05/08 @ 11:34 PM EST
This is long overdue.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap
-Larry
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